BERLIN, Aug. 27 (Xinhuanet) -- German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has said he was optimistic to make a last-minute victory in the forthcoming national elections on Sept. 18.

    In an interview with German ZDF public television, the chancellor said that he was upbeat that voters would fall in behind his government in the last two weeks of the campaign for the election.

    The interview will be broadcast Sunday, according to German news agency DPA.

    He said that the last 14 days would "be crucial time when election decisions will be made."

    German political parties have been drumming up for the early election, which was called by Schroeder in May when his Social Democratic Party (SPD) lost a key state election in its heartland North Rhine-Westphalia. National elections were originally planneda year later.

    Opinion surveys show that the SPD and its junior partner, the Greens, have been trailing far behind Angela Merkel's opposition Christian Democratic Union alliance. Enditem